Bessey Recreation Complex & Campground

We paid the senior half price, $5.50. Electric only at the site.
Great walking trails with 60+ trees identified.
Trains very close, but quiet at night.

We stayed in site #6 in the ‘Cedar’ loop; electric hookup, but no water. There is a water hookup at the camp entrance. The site was quiet and clean. Given the number of ATV’s we saw at the campground I was surprised at how quiet the campground was as a whole. Nice areas to walk around in the complex, especially right around the river. A playground for kids would have been a nice addition. We were traveling with 2 small kids, ages 1 and 4, and I don’t think this campground would have worked for us for more than the couple of nights we stayed as there isn’t enough to keep kids occupied for a long period of time; great for long term stays for others, not for our situation. Restrooms and showers were clean, and showers were hot.

Pretty basic forest campground - nothing spectacular,but pleasant enough. Primarily for off-road fun stuff.One loop closer to the water was full when we got there, but we took the last spot with electric as it was getting pretty hot in early June, 2019. I can see the attraction if you have an ATV. Quiet enough with all the activity.

We were there the day after Labor Day. We had pretty much the run of the park. Didn't even know until that day that Nebraska had a National Forest and we're from Kansas. The topography is cool as well. Instead of sand dunes they have sand hills. Nothing we've seen before. The park has water at the entrance and they provide the hose. They do have trains that run along the park between the highway and the park. We were awakened by train whistles 5 times between 12 and 1 am. Electric was 30 amp and they have a dump station. We found a trail head that ran to the forest fire lookout tower. Three miles to that tower. It was late so we decided to drive there instead. You can climb the tower to the top. There are places to sit on the river and put your feet in. Overall great experience.

This was a much needed stop for us so we stayed longer than planned. We are so thankful we did. We took advantage of our time here to make a video of the campground.

https://youtu.be/B8UCyd7Y6TI

August of 2020. We had reserved our site online, the office was closed. We went right to our spot and set up, very simple. We enjoyed the campground. We went to the look out tower, worth the hike up the stairs. Apparently this is a very popular spot for ATVs so that was a little annoying, we just aren't used to that noise. For the most part, they respected the quiet hours. We also went to nearby Thedford for some golf.

We are fairly new campers, and didn’t realize the popularity of ATV/OHV vehicles. Additionally, this campground is close to a train crossing and there are LOTS of trains day and night. We did enjoy driving out to and climbing the fire tower. Fascinating story about this national forest. Glad we went, but won’t stay there again.

Spent 2 nights here, very scenic area. That alone gives it 5*. Yes, there's ATV noise, many trains blowing the horn, but plenty to do. Nice spot in the River loop for river swimming. Shower houses clean.

We had fun floating down the Middle Loup River. Wish I could have played some golf.

What would otherwise be an awesome destination park in Nebraska gets 2 stars due to the frequent and repetitive train horns for the tracks that cross the park entrance road. Being woken once per hour all night long is not what National Parks should be about. I found it ironic that the park has signage throughout about quiet hours and generator use but somehow there is no solution to the obnoxious horn blasts sometimes twice per hour throughout the night that permeate the entire park. Put automatic gates on the crossing like cities do throughout the country and this campground would be 5 stars.

This is a nice campground! The bath/showers are clean with plenty of hot water. Sites are nice. Not all are level.

There are trains near but they did not bother us.

The campground is wooded and very pretty.